Learn everything you need to know about the product and its functionality. These apps are meant for people who are looking for really helpful ways to manage their personal finances. This software is aimed at teaching users how to effectively budget their expenses and stay within their means, setting reminders for important bills, helping them stick to a budget, as well as telling them exactly how much money they have left over at the end of the month
To get familiar with Microsoft Money, you first need to know how to install it on your computer. Once the software is installed, you will be able to use it to track expenses and view savings goals. You can also use it to create budgets and manage loans, investments and credit cards as well.
Microsoft Personal Finance Software is an app for managing your personal finances. It is available for free for Windows 10, 8 and 7. Microsoft Money personal finance software allows you to keep track of all your financial accounts in one place and stay on budget.
It will let you plan the budget, keep track of your budget, remind you of the bills, and show the balance after deducting the bills & investment, etc. Some tools provide the reports for your performance on the planned budget. All these features help you with managing your finances and improving investments.
Personal Finance Software
Personal Finance Software will let you set the goals for the future and provide an in-depth picture of your position. It offers a facility to monitor the bank accounts, credit cards, loans, and investment balances in one platform.
If we compare the online vs desktop personal finance software then the online tools provide more security, there will not be any software installation, and you will get automatic software updates.
General Features Of Personal Finance Software
While choosing the software, you can also look for the below-mentioned features.
- Mobile App
- Bank-level Security
- Real-time updated information
- Categorization of transactions
- Financial accounts in one place.
- Setting of goals
- Tracking of goals and spending.
- Reports on your performance.
- Balance forecast
- Tool’s personalization capabilities.
Precautions To Use Online Money Management Apps
Three measures should be taken while using the online money management app i.e. look for the tool’s security features, its data backup policy, and see if it has a strong password. A strong password provides good security as it is not controlled by the provider of Personal Finance Software.
How Does The Personal Finance Software Work?
The online Personal Finance Software works by storing your financial data on their servers. This gives you an advantage over storing data on desktop computers as it can be easily hacked.
Some advanced online solutions provide the highest level of security. They encrypt your data and show it in a non-readable format. A good tool provides firewall protection for filtering the network traffic and preventing malicious attacks.
List Of The Best Personal Finance Software
Here is the list of popular Budgeting Software available in the market:
- Mint
- Honeydue
- Mvelopes
- PocketGuard
- EveryDollar
- Moneydance
- Money Dashboard
- GnuCash
- Quicken
- YNAB
- BankTree
- Personal Capital
Comparison Of Top Budgeting Software
| Name | Best for | Type | Platforms | Free Trial | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intuit Mint | Online Accounting | Web-based & mobile app. | Web-based, Android & iOS. | No | Free |
| Honeydue | Couples to manage Finances. | Mobile app | Android & iOS | No | Free |
| Mvelopes | Envelope budgeting system. | Web-based & Mobile app. | Web-based, Android, & iOS. | Available for 30 days. | The price starts at $5.97 per month. |
| PocketGuard | Categorization & organization of your expenses. | Web-based & Mobile App. | Android & iOS | No | Free plan & Plus Plan. |
| EveryDollar | Creating a monthly budget & track spending. | Web-based & mobile app. | Web-based, Android, & iOS. | Available for 14 days. | It starts at $59.99 for 3 months. |
#1) Intuit Mint
Best for online accounting.
Intuit Mint is the platform for personalized insights, custom budgets, spend tracking, and monitoring subscription. It supports Android and iOS devices. You can add your cash, credit cards, bills, and investments to the tools to track the money easily. It will categorize bank transactions and provide safety and security to your data.
Features:
- Mint is a platform with the budget planner and credit monitoring.
- In a budget planner, you can add and update the categories as per your requirement easily.
- For securing the data, it has various features like safeguarding the mobile app with a 4-digit code, multi-factor authentication, etc.
- It automatically finds the savings that are missed.
- It can track the bills to help you without missing them.
Verdict: Intuit Mint is a trusted, protected, and dedicated platform to manage your finances. It will help you stay focused on your financial goals. It is a platform for all accounts in one place and offers the functionalities of bill payment tracker, budgeting goal tracker, free credit score, budget alerts, investment tracker, etc.
Price: Intuit Mint is available for free.
Website: Intuit Mint
#2) Honeydue
Best for couples to manage finances.
Honeydue is an application that helps couples to manage their finances together. It is a smart tool that provides instant notification and real-time balances & budgets for each partner. It is a collaborative tool. It is a secure platform and offers real-time card locks functionality. It offers 24*7 fraud protection.
Features:
- Honeydue has the features to access cash from more than 55,000 surcharge-free ATMs, Apple, and Google Pay.
- With Honeydue joint bank account, the couples will be able to bank together.
- Honeydue supports multiple languages.
- It provides reminders for bills.
Verdict: Honeydue is a mobile application that will let couples collaborate on their terms. It offers the functionalities for tracking all the accounts, coordinating bills, and chatting. Honeydue is working on automatic bill payment features too.
Price: Honeydue is available for free.
Website: Honeydue
#3) Mvelopes
Best as an envelope budgeting system.
Mvelopes offers an envelope budgeting system with three editions i.e. Basic, Premier, & Plus. The app is available for Android and iOS devices. It will let you connect with an unlimited number of accounts.
With all three editions, you will get access to live chat & knowledge base, interactive reports, and auto transaction importing & account balance monitoring.
Features:
- The basic edition will let you connect your bank accounts and create an online envelope budget.
- With the Premier and Plus plan, you will get access to Mvelopes learning center, debt reduction center, and initial setup assistance.
- For the Plus plan, Mvelopes offers the features like a dedicated personal coach, personalized financial plan, and high-level priority support.
Verdict: This envelope budgeting system will help you gain financial peace of mind. It is a simple and affordable budgeting program. With Mvelopes, you will be able to manage your finances from anywhere.
Price: Mvelopes offers a free trial for 30 days. Basic ($5.97/month or $69 per year), Premier ($9.97 per month or $99 per year), & Plus ($19.97 per month or $199 per year).
Website: Mvelopes
#4) PocketGuard
Best for categorization & organization of your expenses.
PocketGuard is the tool that will help you with categorizing and organizing expenses. It will categorize and organize your expenses into tabs and graphs. It will set aside the money for bills, goals & necessities and give you a clear view of spendable money. You can link all your bank, credit cards, and loans & investment in one platform.
Features:
- PocketGuard has features to personalize the reports with custom categories and hashtags.
- It provides the feature of AutoSave that will automatically grow your savings. You just have to enter your goal of saving and the tool will handle the rest.
- It will track the bills and negotiate better deals for cell phone bills, cable bills, etc.
Verdict: PocketGuard will help you with optimizing your spending and thereby grow the savings. You can see all accounts in one place and will be able to keep track of your account balances, net worth, etc.
Price: PocketGuard offers a free plan and a Plus plan. You can get a quote for its pricing details. As per the reviews, it may cost you $3.99 per month or $34.99 per year.
Website: PocketGuard
#5) EveryDollar
Best for creating monthly budget & tracking your spending.
EveryDollar is a budgeting app with the functionalities to create a monthly budget, save money, and track spending. You can enter your monthly income, make a plan, and track spending by creating a transaction. It is accessible through a web and mobile app. The mobile app is available for iOS and Android devices.
Features:
- EveryDollar provides a customizable template to help you with planning your expenses.
- You can track your spending according to your plan.
- Every time you spend money you can create a transaction and this helps you to track spending.
Verdict: EveryDollar is an all-in-one budgeting guide that is accessible from anywhere. It will let you track your expenses and save more. This easy-to-use app will help you with achieving your goals.
Price: You can try the app for free for 14 days. EveryDollar offers the solution with three pricing plans i.e. 3 months ($59.99), 6 months ($99.99), and 12 months ($129.99).
Website: EveryDolla
#6) Moneydance
Best for personal finance management.
Moneydance is an application for personal finance. It supports Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS platforms. It has the capabilities of online banking, bill payment, account management, budgeting, and investment tracking.
It supports multiple currencies. It provides the summary of your finances that includes account balances, upcoming and overdue transactions, reminders, etc.
Features:
- Moneydance has features for downloading transactions and sending payments online. For this, it supports a lot of financial transactions.
- It provides the facility to create graphs and reports for your income and expenses.
- It has Account Registers for entering, editing, and deleting transactions in an account.
Verdict: Moneydance is a personal finance software that is easy to use. It provides all the features required to manage personal finances. It will easily handle any financial task. Moneydance has various functionalities including online banking and setting up reminders for payments.
Price: Moneydance offers a free trial. You can buy the tool for $49.99. It has a 90-day money-back guarantee.
Website: Moneydance
#7) Money Dashboard
Best for budgeting and growing the savings.
Money Dashboard is a budgeting app that provides the functionalities to manage all your accounts. It supports more than 40 banks and providers. It offers the functionalities to transfer money and create offline accounts. It can be used on a laptop, tablet, or phone.
Features:
- Money Dashboards will automatically categorize your spending so that you will get to know where the money goes.
- It has functionalities to track bills, payday countdown, and predicted balance.
- To provide you security, it follows the best in class practices like FCA authorized & regulated and bank-level security.
Verdict: Money Dashboard is a secure platform with capabilities of bank connections, budgets, balance after bills, bills & subscriptions, tracking your spending, etc.
Price: Money Dashboard is available for free.
Website: Money Dashboard
#8) GnuCash
Best for personal finance and ease of use.
GnuCash is the accounting software for personal use as well as for small businesses. This financial accounting software supports multiple platforms Windows, Linux, Solaris, Mac, BSD, etc. The software is intuitive and based on professional accounting principles.
For small businesses, it offers the functionalities of customer & vendor tracking, jobs, invoicing & bill payment, tax & billing terms, etc.
Features:
- GnuCash provides the features of double-entry accounting, small-business accounting, reports, and graphs.
- It has the features for Stock/Bond/Mutual Fund Accounts.
- It offers functionalities like QIF/OFX/HBCI Import and Transaction Matching.
- It has features for scheduled transactions and financial calculations.
Verdict: GnuCash is an easy to use and powerful platform. This personal financial accounting software offers the functionalities of tracking bank accounts, stocks, income, and expenses.
Price: GnuCash is available for free.
Website: GnuCash
#9) Quicken
Best for money management & personal finance.
Quicken is a personal finance and money management software. That will help you with managing spending, budgets, investments, retirement, etc. It will categorize your expenses automatically. Quicken provides 256-bit encryption security. Your data will be transmitted securely with robust encryption.
Features:
- Quicken has a bill center dashboard and a facility to download a PDF of bills.
- With Deluxe and premier plans, it offers the features of the loan, investment, and tax planning.
- Quicken Bill Manager offers the features of bill tracking and bill pay.
- Quicken’s key features include keeping finance up-to-date, searching transaction history, checking investment performance, and viewing balances, budgets, accounts, & transactions, etc.
Verdict: With Quicken, you will be able to manage your money on desktop, web, and mobile platforms. It is a secure place that will let you see all the bank and credit card accounts in one place.
It will give you a complete financial picture at a glance. In one place you can view banking, investment, retirement, credit card accounts, etc.
Price: Quicken offers the four pricing plans for Windows PC i.e. Starter ($35.99 per year), Deluxe ($46.79 per year), Premier ($70.19 per year), and Home & Business ($93.59 per year). For the Mac platform, it has three plans i.e. Starter, Deluxe, and Premier. It offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Website: Quicken
#10) YNAB
Best for personal budgeting.
YNAB is an acronym for You Need A Budget. It is a personal budgeting software. It supports Windows, Mac, and iOS platforms. It provides the features of bank syncing, goal tracking, real-time updates, reports, and personal support.
Features:
- YNAB supports multiple currencies.
- It gives you real-time information from any device.
- It provides the features of goal tracking.
- It can provide reports on your progress.
Verdict: YNAB is an easy to use software that provides the four rules to help you with budgeting. The tool will guide you on the management of money. It will give you complete control over your money.
Price: A free trial is available for 34 days. YNAB offers monthly ($11.99 per month) as well as annual plan ($84 per year).
Website: YNAB
Additional Personal Finance Software
#11) BankTree
BankTree is a personal finance software that can be used on desktop, web, and mobile. It provides easy to use money management features. You can try the tool for free. Its price starts at $40.
It has the capabilities of accounts, investments, and reports. It will let you track your investments. BankTree is suitable for personal use as well as for small businesses.
Website: BankTree
#12) Personal Capital
Personal Capital is a financial planning and wealth management tool that provides online financial management tools and wealth management services. You will get a 360-degree view of your money with this tool.
It will let you see all your accounts in one place. It provides planning and analytic tools. The app is available for iOS and Android devices.
Website: Personal Capital
If you’re looking to replace Microsoft Money with something that has more features and flexibility than Money Plus Sunset Deluxe, here are some options.
Option 1: Desktop Software
If you like using desktop software to manage your finances, you’ll have plenty of alternatives to choose from. Most of them come with a free trial, so it will cost nothing to experiment to find what works best for you. Here are a few choices:
- Moneydance: You can download a version of this software for Mac, Windows, or Linux operating systems. An app version is also available for iOS and Android devices.2
- Quicken: This program offers more power and flexibility for personal finance software users. A much-improved budget feature and easier loan tracking are two of the improvements. You can download it for Windows or Mac, and there’s a mobile app for both iOS and Android.3
- AceMoney: Claiming it’s the best alternative to Quicken, AceMoney is a strong alternative, although it doesn’t offer online bill payment or transaction downloads.4 5
- Moneyspire: Personal finance data in Moneyspire can be shared among multiple users on one computer or over a network, and data works with both the Mac and Windows versions of the software.6
- GnuCash: Thanks to the open-source software movement, GnuCash is free. This financial software can be used to track personal finances and also works nicely as small business accounting software. GnuCash tracks a variety of account types, stocks, income, and expenses.7
Option 2: Online Financial Software
If you’re already switching personal finance software, you could switch to an online program. With online software, you never have to install anything on your hard drive or wait for updates.
Online financial software is generally just as secure as your bank’s online banking website and uses data encryption and other methods to keep data safe.
Here some online software alternatives:
- You Need a Budget: Also known as YNAB, this is online personal finance software with strong budgeting features. You can use YNAB on Windows or Mac computers; with iPad, iPhone, Android, and Kindle Fire apps; and via an app for the Apple Watch. View accounts, check your budget and enter transactions when you’re not at your computer.8
- Personal Capital: In addition to showing you all your accounts in one dashboard, Personal Capital also puts a special focus on helping you plan your investments and check whether you’re on track for retirement.9
Option 3: Microsoft Money Plus Sunset Deluxe
If you can do without automatic transaction downloads and a few other features that require internet access, Microsoft Money Plus Sunset Deluxe is still an option. Although it doesn’t have all the features that you enjoyed in Money, Sunset Deluxe is free. There’s no Mac version, so those users will have to choose a different alternative.10
Is Quicken the Best Microsoft Money Replacement?
Many replacing Microsoft Money first turn to Quicken. It is very robust personal finance software and it works well. However, Quicken costs between $35 and $90, depending on the version.11
Before you switch, consider that you might not be able to successfully import your old Money data. In fact, Quicken strongly recommends against the process.12 Quicken also does not offer a free trial (though the mobile apps have free versions to try). However, it does offer a money-back guarantee, so if you decide it won’t work for you, you’ll need to request a refund within 30 days of purchase.3
Learning to Use the New Personal Finance Software
You will have a slight learning curve when navigating any new personal finance software that replaces Microsoft Money. Some aspects of the new personal finance software will be easy to use for former Microsoft Money users, but be patient as you learn how to get around in the software
Conclusion
Microsoft personal finance software is designed to help you get your financial life in order. Track your spending, pay your bills and stay on top of your budget with the latest version of Microsoft Money. It helps you easily manage cash flow, set goals and plan for the future.
Personal finance software is used to manage your personal incomes and outgoings. It comes with features that help you to keep an eye on spending and save money. Microsoft has its own brand of personal finance software that can be used for both Windows and MacOS.